The record
Key facts
Fact 01
2 — federal felony guilty pleas (2007 misbranding; 2020 fraud/kickbacks)
Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/opioid-manufacturer-purdue-pharma-pleads-guilty-fraud-and-kickback-conspiracies
Fact 02
$5.5B — criminal sentence imposed April 2026
Source: https://www.justice.gov/
Fact 03
76B — opioid pills in the ARCOS data unsealed via the MDL
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/
The entity
Record
Purdue's criminal record is adjudicated fact, not allegation: in 2007 the company pleaded guilty to felony misbranding of OxyContin — marketing it as less addictive while knowing its abuse potential resembled morphine — and in 2020 pleaded guilty again to fraud and kickback conspiracies. The associated $5.5 billion sentence was imposed in April 2026 as part of the broader opioid resolution.
The national opioid litigation surrounding Purdue produced one of the great transparency outcomes in mass-tort history: court fights led by news organizations unsealed the DEA's ARCOS shipment database — 76 billion opioid pills tracked to the county level — and settlement terms created the public Opioid Industry Documents Archive.
Purdue's bankruptcy has been litigated to the Supreme Court and back over releases for the Sackler family; the plan architecture continued evolving through 2026. Docket specifics belong to the bankruptcy court record.
Public-record events
Timeline
| Date | Event | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 2026 | Ruling | $5.5B sentence imposed within the opioid settlement architecture. ↗ |
| Oct 21, 2020 | Ruling | Purdue pleads guilty to fraud and kickback conspiracies. ↗ |
| Jun 20, 2019 | Ruling | Sixth Circuit ruling (press-led) forces unsealing of the ARCOS opioid shipment database. ↗ |
| May 10, 2007 | Ruling | Purdue pleads guilty to felony misbranding of OxyContin. ↗ |
Sources & attribution